Gloria Romero: Hypocrisy of voting on fate of convicted senator

State Sen. Roderick Wright, D-Inglewood, takes the stand last month during his perjury and voter fraud trial at Los Angeles Superior Court. He was convicted of eight felonies. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Clarification

Kevin de Leon was leasing an apartment in the 45th state Assembly District at the time he ran for the Assembly in 2006. De Leon’s residency was ambiguously characterized in a column by Gloria Romero in the Feb. 4 edition of the Register.

American hustle.

Or, should we call it American shuffle – with a clever California two-step?

The conviction last week of state Sen. Rod Wright, D-Inglewood, on eight counts of perjury and voter fraud raises new questions about what the upper legislative house in Sacramento should do now that a jury has convicted one of its members.

At the heart of the case were questions over the location of Wright's “domicile.” Unlike in Congress, legislative candidates must reside in their districts – including when they file nomination papers.

Now, senators are grappling over what to do about a newly convicted felon sitting in their midst.

Under the state Constitution, a senator can be expelled on a two-thirds vote of the 40-member Senate. Of course, a legislator also has the option to resign – as did Sen. Frank Hill when the Whittier Republican was convicted in 1994 in a corruption sting.

But with a Shakespearian-like wringing of hands, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg emerged from an “investigation” meeting, saying that he was stripping Wright of his committee chairmanship and would seek counsel from colleagues on further discipline. Only a few weeks had passed since Steinberg removed the committee posts from Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation.

Trying to resolve matters with a Senate vote, however, may prove somewhat embarrassing. You see, the collegial “counsel” Steinberg receives may well amount to the pot calling the kettle black.

For example, the recently announced successor to Steinberg as leader of the Senate, Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, has had past political opponents accuse him of carpetbagging, that is, moving into a district to to qualify to run for a particular seat, as referenced in an LA Weekly story from 2006. (It's a common political practice and is legal.)

One de Leon opponent, longtime district resident Elena Popp, rightfully called it an “old boys network.” At the very least, it was a distasteful magical carpet(bag) ride.

After de Leon vacated his Assembly seat, he supported current Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, who also immediately faced residency challenges. A 2012 YouTube video captures him giving three answers about where he lived, finally, laughing “I move a lot.”

They weren't the only ones. When former Monterey Park Democratic assemblyman Mike Eng termed out, he helped quash a strong district candidate and endorsed Ed Chau, the eventual victor, who appeared to have hastily shuffled into a newly identified “domicile” apartment within the new district and away from his family.

Maybe political hustling is as American as apple pie. Maybe it can even be stretched so far as to be sold as truth. But it sure stinks and is in no way ethical.

I don't condone what Sen. Wright did, but neither can I condone the hypocrisy of legislators “investigating” him, much less voting to expel him. Many of their hands aren't exactly clean.

Register opinion columnist Gloria Romero is an education reformer and former Democratic state senator from Los Angeles. Gloria@parentempower.org. Twitter: @GloriaJRomero

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